


Campfire

by Brawl2099



Category: All-New Wolverine - Fandom, Wolverine - Fandom, X-23 - Fandom, X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 23:40:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17876972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brawl2099/pseuds/Brawl2099
Summary: In the short time between Return of Wolverine and Wolverine: Infinity Watch, father and daughter reconnect...





	Campfire

Campfire

By Tony Thornley

 

The first roar could be heard for miles.

The Wendigo’s cry was unmistakable, a sound full of man’s pain, animal’s anguish and the echo of generations consumed by those cursed. However, that was not the first cry.

The first was the cry of the Wolverine.

Logan dodged the Wendigo’s massive claw and jammed both clawed fists into its side. The creature roared again, grabbed him and ripped him away. It lifted him with both hands and threw him into the nearest tree. The trunk shattered in the impact of the mutant’s metal skeleton. He felt his consciousness begin to slip.

There was another roar.

Laura Kinney rushed from the woods next to him and jumped into the air. She hit the Wendigo hard in the chest, spearing him with both fists. It screamed in pain, and she moved quickly to its gut, slicing it open. It grabbed her, but Logan was at its side.

He sliced once, removing its arm at the elbow. Laura spun quickly and jammed her claws into its skull. It gurgled once, and dropped to the ground. The two stood over its corpse, gasping.

“Please tell me it was a bad guy,” she said.

“Serial killer, cannibal,” Logan said. “Fled the US to escape prosecution.”

“Good,” she said. She spun and hugged him. “Dad.”

“Hey kiddo,” he said. “Good to see you too.”

 

=X=

 

Hours later…

 

The campfire turned bright in the dark Canadian hills.The moon was the thinnest of waning crescents, and many of the stars were obscured by clouds. She welcomed the warmth. Tracking the Wendigo had been cold work. She was soaked to the hips when she found him.

The fire was small but bright and warm. Logan’s cabin was just a couple dozen yards away, though she’d avoided it for obvious reasons. There were a batch of stumps around the fire, each one trying to give the appearance of firewood, but each actually carefully selected and cut to serve as stools. One large log laid on its side, clearly meant to be a bench, and that’s where she’d decided to sit.

Logan crouched near the fire, placing his cast iron skillet on the rocks nearest it to warm it. He stood, pulled his gloves off and stuck them in his jacket pocket. He strode over to the cooler stuffed amongst his supplies and pulled out two bottles. A lager for himself, a ginger beer for her. He returned to her side and handed her the bottle. Nearly in unison, they both popped their claws and opened the bottles.

Logan chuckled.

“You are your father’s daughter,” he said, taking a deep swig.

“That’s what everyone says.” They sat together in silence, drinking, until Logan stood, grabbed a seasoned tenderloin from a plate with tongs and threw it on the skillet. He glanced at her.

“You hungry?”

“Famished. Deer?”

“Bear actually. A heap of garlic and braised in beer though and it’s pretty damn good.”

“You know I like bear Dad,” she said.

“Right,” he sighed. “It’s been a while. Sorry. And I’m used to justifying shit like that to Kurt and Slim.”

She laughed. He leaned down, turned it once and returned to her side. She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Don’t be.”

“How long you known?”

“Pretty quick, I think,” she said. “Finding you, tracking you down was something I needed to do quietly though. Didn’t want to get Gabby’s hopes up, especially after all the bullshit with the old man.”

He sighed again. “It’s like you didn’t even have to mourn me.”

“Trust me, I did. But then he showed up. And I found Gabby. And everything with Akihiro.”

“Daken.”

“Yeah…”

“I’m glad you got close with him” he said. “He needed you. He needed me too, but he hated me too much by the time I saw that.” They sat quietly for a for more beats again.

“What’s she like?” He nudged her off his shoulder, then stood and turned the tenderloin again. He walked back to his cooler as she thought about it.

“Nothing like either of us, but too much like both of us,” she said. “Somehow she avoided the cynicism and anger. But she still has the animal in her.” She laughed and swallowed the last of her drink.  Logan stepped back to the skillet, dumped a beer into it, and followed it with a handful of garlic cloves and sprigs of herbs she didn’t recognize.

He rejoined her. “I can’t wait to meet her. Again, I guess. What’s he like?”

“The old man?”

“Yeah,” he said.

“He’s you… but he’s not.  He hasn’t talked much about his life, and where it went wrong, went different. But it's made him angry, closed off. He can’t love any of us, even though you see that he does.”

“That sounds way too much like me,” he laughed. She smirked.

“Trust me, it’s not.”

“How’s… Jeannie?”

“Is that what’s kept you away?”

He sighed and nodded, then shrugged. “She’s been gone so long. I didn’t want to burden her with… well, me. It was good to see her, no matter how briefly, while I was dealing with all the Soteria stuff, but she didn’t need me. Us. Our baggage.”

She smiled and wrapped her arm around him. “She still loves you. I feel it every time she looks at us. But that love has changed, and I think if she knew that, she’d appreciate it.”

“She’s turned into a hell of a leader,” he said.

“I think she always was,” she laughed. “She just held back because of Charles, and Scott… And maybe you, a little.”

“Ah Chuck.” Logan chuckled. “I never want to see that son of a bitch again.”

Laura started laughing and pulled away from him. Logan chuckled, then after a couple beats joined her in laughter. The two trailed off, and Laura wiped tears from her eyes.

“Thanks, I needed that.”

“I’m glad to see you… like this. Grown up. You’ve become an incredible young woman. Not just a quiet little ball of rage.”

“We got rid of the trigger scent,” she said. “I met Gabby. I became, well, you.”

“Wait, you got rid of the trigger scent?” he said. “How?”

“Jean and I- young Jean- stuck ourselves in a room together, and she deprogrammed it out of me.”

“Damn, why didn’t I think of that? Why didn’t Emma?”

“We didn’t want to then,” she said. “I was too closed off and you didn’t want to push me.” She hung her head. “I wanted a family so bad but I didn’t want to hurt any of you.” She took a deep, trembling breath. She looked back up at him, tears in her eyes. “I wanted to call you Dad so badly, but I didn’t want to hurt you.”

He turned and hugged her. She melted into her father’s arms, then after a beat returned the hug. She felt him tremble several times himself. So much was said in that silence. He tightened his squeeze for a moment and pulled away.

“I’m so damn proud of you kid,” he said. “What you’ve done, how you grew… that damn costume!” He laughed. “I’m glad to be back, just so we can finally do this damn thing right.”

“Me too,” she said.  “You going to come back with me?”

“I got a few things to take care of first,” he said. “But not much. I’ll be along quick. But let’s have dinner and get some rest.” He stood and pointed. “Plates are over in the blue cooler. I’ll grab the roast and the packet of veg.”

“You got it,” she said. “Want me to throw the cobbler on?”

He laughed. “Never could get anything past you. Sure.” After that, father and daughter settled in for the evening. The duo talked and laughed long into the night.


End file.
